Former UFC welterweight title challenger Colby Covington will face former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in a professional freestyle wrestling match. The bout is scheduled for May 30 at the RAF09 tournament. Covington holds a 17-5 overall MMA record with a 12-5 UFC record, while Weidman stands at 16-8 overall and 12-8 in the UFC. Both fighters have extensive wrestling backgrounds from their pre-MMA careers. This crossover event marks a departure from traditional MMA competition for both veterans. The announcement represents an unusual matchup between fighters from different weight classes competing in their base discipline.
Colby Covington and Chris Weidman are set to square off in a professional freestyle wrestling match on May 30, stepping away from MMA competition to compete at the RAF09 tournament in their shared base discipline.
Covington, known as "Chaos," carries a 17-5 overall MMA record and a 12-5 mark inside the UFC, where he established himself as one of the welterweight division's most dangerous title challengers. The 38-year-old American, who trains out of MMA Masters, stands five-foot-eleven with a 72-inch reach. In MMA competition he has averaged 3.81 significant strikes per minute and 3.64 takedowns per 15 minutes, underlining the relentless wrestling-based pressure that defined his rise through the rankings.
Weidman, nicknamed "The All-American," brings a 16-8 overall record and a 12-8 UFC ledger to the match, along with the distinction of being a former UFC middleweight champion. The 42-year-old Serra-Longo Fight Team product stands six-foot-two with a 78-inch reach and has averaged 3.27 takedowns per 15 minutes throughout his MMA career, a figure that reflects the college wrestling pedigree his nickname references.
Why it matters
- Both fighters built their MMA identities around wrestling, making this a genuine test of each man's foundational skill set rather than a pure novelty contest.
- Covington competes at welterweight and Weidman at middleweight, so the crossover format removes the weight-class barrier that would prevent a traditional MMA matchup.
- The RAF09 appearance signals a growing appetite among established UFC veterans for competition outside the cage, adding a high-profile names to the emerging wrestling crossover circuit.
